This study used a systematic review and meta-analysis as a method to investigate whether STEM enactment in Asia effectively enhances students’ learning outcomes. Verifiable examples of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, effectively being applied in Asia, are presented in this study. The study involved 4768 students from 54 studies. Learning outcomes focused on the students’ academic learning achievement, higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), and motivation. The analysis results of effect sizes showed that the STEM enactments in Asia were effective at a moderate level (0.69 [0.58, 0.81 of 95% CI]) of improving students’ learning outcomes. Sequentially, the effectiveness of STEM enactment starts from students’ higher-order thinking skills, moves to students’ academic learning achievement, and ends with the motivation. In addition, STEM enactments in Asia were carried out with several variations where STEM integrated with project-based learning was preferred. The recommendations of this study include a combination of the learning approach, learning orientation, and duration of instruction, all of which contribute to the STEM enactment effectiveness and maximize results in STEM education. Some practical implications, such as the central role of the teacher during the STEM enactment, are extensively discussed. This study supports that STEM education is a universally crucial tool which effectively prepares students from various national and cultural backgrounds, across Asia, toward improved learning outcomes.

This study focuses on assessing the growth of the latest developments of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as part of an effort to maintain the progress of STEM education. Assessment is necessary for every educational activity, including in the field of STEM education. However, there are limited comprehensive reports on the progress and development of STEM education inside individual Asian countries. An attempt to bring up the sustainable development of STEM education is conducted by using an exhaustive assessment. The assessment, within this study, includes three domains, namely attitudes, knowledge, and applications (AKA) regarding STEM education. The comparison of these three domains based on demographic data, teachers’ difficulties perception, and its contribution to the sustainable development of STEM education is, likewise, discussed. This type of research is a mix of both qualitative and quantitative research methodology. The quantitative analysis method was performed to address the level position and the comparative value of the three domains. In comparison, the qualitative analysis method was employed to strengthen the quantitative result analysis, as well as to deal with the teachers’ perception. Results show that science teachers have a very good attitude, a moderate-level category in the application, and a low-level category in knowledge regarding STEM education. Further, there are differences in knowledge and the application of STEM education, based on educational background and teaching experience of the teachers, yet there are no differences regarding teachers’ attitudes. Other components are discussed in detail, such as the teacher’s perception of STEM teaching difficulties. Providing challenges and opportunities for improving the quality of education in the future are discoursed. The results of this study suggest that knowledge and attitudes are fundamental domains for the proper implementation, as well as sustainability, of STEM education (especially in Indonesia).

This study aims to test the effectiveness of a socio-scientific issue (SSI) based instruction through STEM-6E (engage, explore, explain, engineer, enrich, and evaluate). Controversial science topics (e.g. genetically modified organisms) in many countries, especially Indonesia, can be approached via integrated STEM education. One hundred and nine junior-high-school students from two different schools were involved in this study. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses were used to interpret the data obtained. Furthermore, a multi-level assessment framework (proximal and distal assessment) was employed in the quantitative analysis. The study results revealed that socio-scientific issue-based instruction by STEM-6E can probe a unique natural classroom interaction initiated by the teacher. The results also showed that both proximal and distal assessment had significant pre-test and post-test score differences (t-test value: proximal = −14.89; distal = −8.92). Practical significance from Cohen's d in the two assessments also showed a large effect (distal: d = 0.85; proximal: d = 1.42). The students’ perceptions of this curriculum intervention, are extensively discussed. In conclusion, this current study's results support the claim that STEM-SSI can foster students’ understanding, performance, motivation, and self-awareness in learning science. Furthermore, such findings contribute to science teachers in planning, processing, and evaluating classroom learning via controversial science topics through integrated STEM education.

Factors affecting the quality of education can be observed from students’ problem-solving abilities and academic learning achievements. This research aims to examine a direct relationship between students’ problem-solving abilities and academic learning achievement by using a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at a coffee plantation area in Indonesia. In analyzing data, students’ problem-solving abilities and academic learning achievements were exposed to quantitative descriptive of correlation bivariate rank Spearman. This study consisted of 148 junior-high-school students in a coffee plantation area. The results indicated that there was a positive correlation between the students’ problem-solving abilities and academic learning achievements in favor of STEM education. This means that the more problem-solving skills the students have, the better academic learning achievement they perform. These positive results recommend that the integrated STEM education, as an approach, should be included varied contexts, especially in the Asian region. Moreover, science teachers should hone students’ problem-solving skills via a mixed way, e.g., the integrated STEM education. In addition, STEM education will be helpful for students (who especially work and live in plantation areas) to understand the role of science in their everyday lives.

This study aims to determine the role of worldview perspective on science students’ decision-making process by a socio-scientific issue-based instruction through an integrated Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Understanding the decision-making process in complex themed learning is one of the most important instruments in understanding the way students think. The participants were one hundred and nine junior-high-school students from two different schools. Furthermore, the method used was a pre-experimental design with two collective groups, namely the pre-and posttest, starting with an educational study design. The results showed that there was a different perspective pattern based on the worldview perspective on students’ initial decisions. Furthermore, interventions with socio-scientific issues (SSI) based instruction through integrated STEM education provided significant dynamics of change in the final science decision made by the students on the basis of a worldview perspective and gender. Some practical implications were extremely discussed, such as the crucial role of the teacher during a complex lesson topic. Therefore, this study makes an indispensable contribution to the development of the knowledge of science teaching practice, especially on how a decision-making process occurs by a socio-scientific issue-based instruction through integrated STEM education.

The development and deployment of STEM education in every continent and country are different. An instrument to access the current situation of the application, knowledge, as well as attitude towards STEM education, is necessary. This research aimed to design and develop a valid instrument that can be used to assure the quantitative degree of attitude, knowledge, and application of STEM (AKA) by science teachers. Research data were collected from 137 Indonesian secondary school science teachers. In order to determine the validity of the scale, reliability test, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), as well as the content and face validity from experts were used. Results showed that the designed and developed AKA instrument was adequate to reliabilities and validities as well as can be used to collect data. The development of AKA instrument enables users worldwide to obtain information about the development of STEM as well as the problems and challenges faced by science teachers in the field. Further work is also suggested.